Monsters intrigue me. Iâve always enjoyed the weird and obscure â the creatures who are recognizably not human. Being a queer, autistic person, Iâve often felt as if I didnât understand the worldâŠor the world didnât understand me. Reading and writing about monsters sheds a new light on the parts of myself that I was taught are undesirable. By conventional standards, the monsters in these stories are horrifying, yet they find people who love them and their monstrosity. Monsters get their happy endings â and I can get mine, too.
There's nothing like the pairing of a prickly woman and a gender-nebulous forest god.
Rien Gray always hooks me with their intriguing characters, but combine that with this storyâs spiritual atmosphere and Norse mythos? It felt less like I was reading a book and more like I was wandering into the seductive dark of the woods myself.
Although this story is short enough to read in one sitting, its gorgeous prose and immaculate intimacy still pack a major punch.
Katla ElĂnsdĂłttir has always believed in the old ways. She grew up in a rural village worshipping Heimr, an ever-changing and seductive god of the hunt. Offering blood to make the crops grow is second nature, but part of Katla fears a darker side of her nature that longs for prey.
Abandoning her worship for a normal life in the city seems to tame that thirst, until Heimr appears in Katla's dreams and calls her back to the wild. They offer her everything she desires, but at a price her body and soul might not survive.
When it comes to monster romances off the beaten path, Magen Cubed is not afraid to play with more macabre themes. I enjoy all of their shorts, but The Ecstasy of Cornelia Dayreally sold me. When Cordelia moves into a new house, she realizes there are still spirits within its walls, and she starts to feel more than fear for the specters that haunt her. If youâre a fan of the pottery scene in Ghostand arenât afraid to get a spooky and etherealâŠtry this. Youâll thank me.
"Seated at her table, Cornelia squeezed her thighs together under her dress. She found she could no longer restrain her impulses at the thought. For now, however, Cornelia was content to listen to the old house whisper."
Let love take you to dark places in THE ECSTASY OF CORNELIA DAY from Magen Cubed (FLESHTRAP, A MONSTROUS LOVE, and THE SOUTHERN GOTHIC SERIES). In this erotic supernatural romance, a woman falls in love with the nine spirits who haunt her home -- and the man who killed them, known as the Master.
Sensuous, dream-like, and strange, this 4,200-word short story isâŠ
Planetary blockades. Rampant viral outbreaks. Can two ex-lovers forge a path through the stars to save their world?
Independent trader Gavril Danilovich is slowly slipping into madness. Stuck in quarantine on a dying planet, his raw talent to feel everyoneâs emotions has him wrestling with waves of terror and rage.âŠ
We all know the story: someone messes around with magic and ends up indebted to a demon. In this short, however, our main character is a queer Black man, and the devil that finds him wonât take no for an answer. For fans of Omegaverse, dubcon, and monsters that look like monsters, definitely check this out!
The last thing Silas Cromwell expected was for a book to change his life. When a rare first edition book from a famous 19th-century Occultist ends up in Silas's lap at an auction, life as he knows it suddenly changes. Pressured into performing one of the rituals from the book by a friend, Silas gets a tease of regret. Now Silas canât sleep, is having nightmares that end with him waking up terrified. Something obscene, dark and deadly wants Silas and he isnât human. Bazaduil lusts for Silas and wonât take no for an answer, even if it means trickingâŠ
What I wouldnât give for my sleep hallucinations to fuck me instead of terrifying me. Even in this novella-sized package, Sing Me to Sleep has tons of world building to kick off the upcoming series in this universe. If you struggle with nightmares or just want to read about an Indian American woman overcoming trauma and falling for her monstrous sleep paralysis demon, do yourself a favor! (Thereâs tail action.)
Her father, her sense of security, her ability â and willingnessâ to sleep. Her family is most concerned about the latter at the moment, and when her sister Jenna leaves her alone in their shared home for the first time since The Incident, Penelope finally accepts some help. The only problem? There are side effects. Well, one: sleep paralysis.
And the demon who came for her fear.
Fear is the only thing that matters to the demons of the Somni Dae, and as long as they deliver it back to Hell, theyâŠ
Ilsa Krause and her siblings are stunned to discover their father left massive debt behind upon his death. To help pay off their creditors, she takes a job at Beckâs Chocolates, the company her father despised. To make matters worse, her boss is Ernst Webber, her high school love whoâŠ
What would happen if Little Red Riding Hood ran into the woods â and came across a cottage inhabited by wolf-men (fur and all)? I love stories where a couple adds another partner to their relationship, andThe Witchâs Wolves gives us a sweet glimpse of that. If you understand the sex appeal of Stanley Tucci, you will get why this cozy queer story delivers heat.
Little Red Riding Hood is all grown up- and sheâs queer. Manon has been caught in one scandalous situation too many, now sheâs on the run. When she finally sees a lone cottage in the woods she thinks sheâs found her salvation, only to find that sheâs stumbled into a den of wolves. But she soon finds that these wolf-men are much more interested in pleasure than they are in pain.
This is a 18,000~ word soft and very steamy MMF romance novella with a guaranteed HEA.
Avirin has a dirty little secret. She hates her fae coworker â but thatâs no surprise. Not when Pyeâs tattoos and easy-going attitude clash with her pencil skirts and rigid expectations. Those strict rules help her maintain a corporate appearance so no one catches onto the truth of what she is...
A succubus, secretly scheduling the feedings she needs to survive. Imagine her shock to find Pye on her doorstep offering their services. Avirin should refuse, but the need to feed is growing stronger...and once she gets a taste of him, sheâs not sure her hunger will be sated by anything less than his body against hers.
David Fletcher needs a surgeon, stat! But when he captures a British merchantman in the Caribbean, what he gets is Charley Alcott, an apprentice physician barely old enough to shave. Needs must, and Captain Fletcher takes the prisoner back aboard his ship with orders to do his best or heâllâŠ
Donât mess with the hotheadâor he might just mess with you. Slater Ibåñez is only interested in two kinds of guys: the ones he wants to punch, and the ones he sleeps with. Things get interesting when they start to overlap. A freelance investigator, Slater trolls the dark side ofâŠ